A Poisoned Pendragon
by UniqueTeen
Summary: When Arthur gets poisoned, Merlin has to reveal his identity to Arthur and the king. What will happen? Will Arthur accept his friend or will Uther send Merlin to the chopping block?
1. Chapter 1

**Note: For some strange reason, I noticed the absence of the first chapter/ prologue. Sadly, only the first draft remained after a virus attacked my pc; so it has been almost completely re-written. I think that its much better than the original, an I will be posting the next chapter in two weeks time tops.**

An unconscious Arthur Pendragon was found lying flat on his bed, with a half emptied golden goblet braced in his limp hand. Some people looking at the prince may have thought that he was 'peacefully resting'; but that was not the case. The truth was that the royal's wine had been spiked with a deadly poison, which would be fatal and kill the prince with a slow and painful death within a week, and to escape that demise, there was only one cure available.

Magic.

There was one problem that would halt the healing of the ill prince. It wasn't the poison itself, to the fact that the prince in question was unconscious. No, it was the fact that the prince's father King Uther Pendragon; ruler of Camelot hated everything to do with magic, and banned the substance from his kingdom with a penalty of death.

Unsurprisingly, the odds of a full recovery were against the poor prince.

It had been a little over one full hour since Arthur Pendragon had been found in his enchanted slumber, and already there was hell in the castle. Maids and manservant's were shocked senseless, the guards were blaming themselves at the loss of the prince, the knights were wondering what on earth happed, as they had only seen him up and running a few hours previous.

After forty five minutes of detours that had taken place around the castle, Gaius who was Camelot's finest physician had just reached the outside door of the young Pendragon's chambers.

After knocking several times on the door, Gaius opened the large door and was unprepared for the sight that he saw. Knelt beside the limp body of the prince; lay king Uther who had soft tears that were gently streaming down his cheeks. To Gaius it was obvious that the king thought there was no hope left for his son.

Not wanting to stumble in the room uninvited, Gaius loudly knocked his fist against the door and said "excuse me milord, you wanted to see me."

As soon as noise and the words were heard, Uther silently stood up from his position and let the elderly physician examine the only heir to the throne. Several minutes past before Gaius was done, and the second it was completed; the King moved to his son's side and stared at the physician with cold, calculated eyes, waiting for the old man to explain what was wrong with his son.

Cold tension was evident in the room, as all three occupants were silent as the grave. But it was quickly broken with the remark "What's wrong with him?" from the king.

Unsure how to break the news to the king, Gaius just acted as he normally did, tell the full truth right there and then. "He has been poisoned milord, by a deadly unknown source. All I know that it is lethal, and will kill him painfully." He said, unable to look the king in the eye as he sentenced his son to death.

Silence was all could be heard throughout the room as the king pondered through the statement that the court physician had just said. "Is there any cure?" asked the distraught king, his voice hoarse from crying.

"Yes sire, but you will not like it"

"Tell me." It was not a plea, but an order that came out from Uther's mouth.

"Magic" Gaius simply stated, as from the examination performed only a minute ago; he knew that to save the prince that Merlin's secret would be thrown out of the window.

"You used to practice magic, so will you be able to heal him? I won't punish you for using it forbidden." Uther said quickly, a pleading look taking place in his usually cold eyes.

Shaking his grey hair in disagreement, Gaius responded to the hurried question just announced. "I'm sorry sire; but that type of magic is too advanced for a sorcerer of my standards, only a priest or priestess of the old religion can perform a spell of those standards." As the words came out of his mouth, the king bowed his head down and closed his eyes for his son. No one would want their son's last moments to be in pain, and that included Uther Pendragon.

"There is only one person I know of sire, a man that goes by the name Emrys. Emrys has only started practicing magic for two years, and was born with it. He has saved you and you're son's life countless of times, he has stopped sorcerers from attacking Camelot time and time again without getting any praise of what he's done. He is also the one that killed Nimueh, after bartering his own life for Arthur's."

Uther, the master of keeping expressions under his cold mask was beyond shocked. Why would a sorcerer help the Pendragon's when he would be executed without a minutes thought? How could the warlock look at Uther himself and not hate him for killing all of his kind without a minute's hesitation?

"Fetch him quickly; I want to see this sorcerer in person." That was true Uther thought, as he was quite curious of who this 'Emrys' could be.


	2. Chapter 2

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump

Was the only sound that Merlin could hear ringing in his overly large ears. He was stood, slightly shaking in front of prince Arthur's chambers, feeling more terrified than he had ever felt in his life. The moment felt so surreal, almost as he was living inside a wacky dream that was about to play the situation that he had successfully avoided for the past two years. Uther Pendragon learning Merlin's deepest secret.

It was the same Uther Pendragon that hated every creature and word that was abnormal. The man that had killed thousands of innocents of people for being born or for learning one special gift. Magic. And that was why the warlock in question wasn't at all looking forward to stepping through the doorway that he stood in front off; and having his whole future torn away from him.

Merlin wasn't afraid of death. Living in a city where every other day a deadly creature attacked, made a person accept the prospect of lying in an early grave; and add the fact that a few brave warlocks and sorcerers lived in the same city only increased the chance of an early death. But that didn't mean that the warlock in question welcomed the idea of going to Avalon in open arms.

Without thinking, Merlin brought a shaking hand towards the door that would change his not very long future. He braced his hand to do one simple gesture, a knock on the door; but found out that his hand was frozen a centimetre or so away from the wood. Yes he could face evil sorcerers, giant revenge seeking dragons, evil men coming back from the dead and even possessed mythical beasts. He had stopped every one of them easily, but could he take the life force away from an angry magic hating king?

No.

The guilt would slowly overwhelm him. He could not kill the future king's father, despite the fact that he was Uther Pendragon, the king of murder. If he did; the memory would be with Merlin forever. The look of shock on the elder royal face, while another look of betrayal on the younger would always remain with him. It would of followed him as he slept, crept into his nightly routine of nightmares; implanting the face of the Pendargon's into his head for eternity.

Thinking back to the present, Merlin remembered the moment that his mentor had told him about the prince's poisoning. The timing of the event was brilliant. The one time that the younger Pendragon's protector had the evening off, the royal had to get himself knocked into another near-death situation. It was just typical.

_Flashback_

_It was a normal evening for Merlin. The young warlock knelt over several pieces of dirty armour, clearly scrubbing them inside his small room. Secretly Merlin was surprised, only a few hours before had his master gave him the evening off work; telling him to enjoy himself as he had some important job to do. The act itself was so unlike Arthur, that Merlin had a hard job to keep his jaw off the floor. _

_Gaius had been called to a meeting with the king shortly after the warlock had come back from work. The 'blue eyed idiot' thought it was a regular meeting with physician and king. _

_That had been an hour ago._

_Humming a tune that he had heard earlier that day, Merlin continued to scrub the dented metal; only every now and then complaining under his breath about "Stupid pratts" and "idiotic clotpoles". He was so absorbed in his own world, that he didn't notice Gaius entering his sleeping quarters. _

_Looking up, the manservant saw that Gaius looked troubled. The elderly physician had a worn out defeated expression that was situated on his face. His shoulders were hunched back, making him look twice his usual age._

"_What's the matter Gaius? Has Uther ordered a dirty tank of leeches for me to clean?" His teasing tone tired to lighten the mood as it usually did, as it normally got a scowl or a small smirk from the elder, but this time it only got a shake of the head. "Gaius whatever is the matter?" _

"_The Prince has been subjected by an unknown but fatal rare plant. He has only a matter of hours before his body is subjected to the paralysis, and the only known cure is magic. The king won't leave Arthur's room, and the spell to heal him must be cast in his chambers. The old man watched as his wards face turned a ghostly shade of white, and paused before continued with the dreaded news. "Merlin my boy, I'm sorry to tell you this, but its time you reveal your magic". Gaius briefly closed his eyes waiting for the news to sink in._

_A gulp could be heard through the silence that settled in the room, a small second past before the warlock spoke._"_Is there anyway out of letting the king know?" Merlin asked; his voice filled with an even amount of both dread and acceptance. His sapphire eyes that betrayed the emotions that he was felling were being used to stare straight at Gaius, as they watched his reaction. At the small shake of his mentors head, Merlin let out a small sigh of defeat, as he unconsciously rubbed a hand through his inky hair, completely forgetting the half finished armour._

_The stillness in the room was tense, Gaius stood still, body looking almost a foot smaller than it usually did; while Merlin knelt on the floor, thinking about what he should do, and the consequences after his actions. Slowly a humourless smile crept upon the younger's lips, and that ignited dull acceptance which could be seen in his eyes with unshed tears. _

_Merlin knew that the moment that he had been dreading had arrived, and that his secret would soon be revealed. With all the happiness that he could muster, Merlin stood up and turned to face his mentor, and said one sentence that would have consequences._

"_Can't keep the Pratt waiting."_

_End flashback._

So there he was, right in front of the door that would change his destiny.

Breathe in

Breathe out.

After finally getting sensation back to his hands, Merlin softly knocked on the door, and after hearing a weak "come in", he opened it and stepped through...

* * *

Edit: 8th of May 2011.


	3. Chapter 3

As Merlin opened the door, he stood silently staring at the scene before him. There knelt by his employers bedside, knelt the leader of Camelot. Tear stains were visible on the elders face, and both of his hands held a small but visible tremor.

The sight was almost exactly the same from the Time of the Questing Beast.

Not wanting to interrupt such a precious moment by acting his usual clumsy self, Merlin coughed quietly to alert the king of his presence, and immediately cold steel eyes locked onto molten sapphire.

The look on the Uther's face would stay with the warlock for years to come. First his eyes widened, and then emotions quickly flitted across the elder's face, so fast that Merlin was only able to recognise a few.

Betrayal, puzzlement, anger, and to Merlin's surprise-fear.

Two seconds that felt like eternity passed, and the two conscious occupants had a silent battle of will. Who would speak first? The youth that would get sentenced to death by just breathing, and the distraught king who banished an elemental out of fear and anger. The warlock won.

"You!"

"Me." Merlin responded with a barely visible smile. He honestly expected the reaction to be worse. A Lot of worse.

"But you, my son's bumbling idiotic manservant, why would you be a-a _Sorcerer?"_ The king asked, he was already on his two feet, but had to lean on Arthur's bed post for support.

"Warlock" Merlin corrected. "And not by choice" he stopped and sighed at the look of confusion on the Pendragon's face, it was going to be a _long _day. "Take you sire for an example. You took the throne of Camelot by choice, like a sorcerer would choose magic. But your son doesn't have the choice whether or not to take the throne, as he was born to be a future leader, which is like me, a Warlock. Warlocks don't choose if they want magic or not, magic chooses them. Destiny."

Uther snorted. "Destiny is a fairytale, a child's story. We make our own choices, not some old bunch of magically corrupt _Druids_" he spat the last word out with distaste, almost as if the mere mention of a druid would leave a nasty after-taste in the royal's mouth.

Merlin was starting to get impatient. He had been called to Arthur's room to heal the prince, not to banter about the pros and cons of magic and destiny. "Alright, I get your point! But aren't dragons and magic fairytales? Aren't they told by parents and travelling bards?" The warlock paused for a moment, before he ran a hand through his messy hair in frustration.

"Despite the fact that I am loving the friendly banter that we are having, but I'm sorry to disappoint you in cutting it short, as I am meant to be here to heal the prince, not argue with the King. So if you don't mind I have an almost-always-somehow-injured-prince-that-has-not-long-to-live to heal." Merlin said, and made several hand gestures to emphasise the fact.

In short, it failed.

The elder glared and made no sign of moving.

"How am I meant to know that you, _Sorcerer _aren't going to kill my son?" The king asked, putting the conversation back on track.

"It's Warlock, not sorcerer. War. Lock. Two syllables should be simple for you to understand. And why on earth would I kill the prat that I've tried to protect?

"Protect, when have you protected my son?" The king asked, raising a regal eyebrow that looked much like a certain physician's.

Blinking at the question, Merlin proceeded to count his fingers and name only a few out of the countless times that he had saved Arthur's neck. "Well… There's Lady Helen, the incident with Valiant, the disaster with the Afanc, the time when I swallowed poison that was laced with a Mortaeus flower…." He trailed off, at the masked look on Uther's face.

Another round of tense silence appeared in the air, and Merlin shifted nervously. During his rant he had forgotten that he was speaking to Uther Pendragon, king of Camelot; and instead of treating him with respect, the Warlock treated him like a piece of dirt. There was no way that he could get away without his head being the next on the chopping block.

In other words, he was doomed.

"One false movement and I will not hesitate to kill you." The statement was so unexpected, that Merlin took a step backwards in shock.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me. One wrong move and I won't hesitate to kill you where you stand. Is this understood?" The king asked, all the while watching Merlin's every move.

Merlin slowly took a few steps towards the unconscious body, thoroughly examining the body with his eyes, before nodding and giving the waited "Yes Sire" as a response. Stepping even closer to his employer, Merlin searched his vast knowledge of spells to mix'n'match for the prince, not knowing that his eyes had snapped shut in concentration.

"What are you doing?

"Thinking up a spell."

"WHAT? Don't you have something to prepare you for a situation like this?"

You're asking if I have a spell for princes-that-are-prats-and-are-almost-every-week-in-a-life-or-death-situation. Then no, as my spell book doesn't have that category."

"Then what are you doing? Putting random words together and seeing if they work?" The king asked, his face starting to go An unhealthy shade of scarlet.

"Basically yes, but a bit more complicated than that" the warlock gave a half-hearted shrug "it has worked for me so far… Ha! Found it!" The scarf lover opened his molten blue eyes, and grinned in triumph.

He quickly spared a look at the distraught father, and tilted his head asking for approval. At the slight tilt of the royal's head Merlin prepared himself for the weary spell.

"_ætbregdan__attor æftan æðeling banhus__"_

The effect was instantaneous. A slight pinks flush appeared on Arthur Pendragon's royal cheeks, and his breathing became more even. For Merlin though, the energy consuming spell made the warlock feel slightly lightheaded, making the Dragon Lord lean on one of the walls for support.

Uther, whose hand was still clasped together with his heir's noticed the change immediately. After his eyes swallowed the image of the healing prince, the king stared at the Sor-_Warlock_ that had healed his son, not knowing what to do with him.

So he proceeded to ask about Arthur. "Will he be okay?"

A small smile graced Merlin's lips. "He should be, if he doesn't over exercise himself for a few days."

"What did it mean?"

"Huh?"

"Imbecile. What did the spell that you used mean? It sounded…. Powerfull"

Oh. It roughly translates into: Take away the poison from Prince's blood. It was a mixture of power and energy, meaning that I probably won't be able to use magic for a few hours" the Dragon Lord gulped as the situation made his way into his brain.

One unable to use magic sorcerer plus one magic hating king equals an unpleasant fate for Merlin.

Fate hated him.

Almost as if he was listening to the teen's thoughts, Uther sighed before explaining what would happen. "Listen Warlock as I'm only going to say this once. In two hours' time, after spending time with my miraculous healing heir, will I remember the outlaw that fled Camelot one day previous. I will send a handful of troops to scout the a border, and a certain village named Elador. If I find the outlaw, I will have him brought to justice via a public execution. You have been warned, so now leave."

And in a blink of an eye, Merlin did just that.

* * *

Edited: 28 August 2011


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I will be more likely to own a chocolate teapot than BBC's Merlin. Mmmmm Choclate teapot..**

All was quiet when Uther Pendragon entered Camelot's the throne room, with his scarlet cape flowing gently as blood behind him. It had been two days since the prince had woken up, and no one knew who the sorcerer that poisoned Arthur was. And that fact greatly disturbed both the royal people standing in the king's throne room.

Strangely, Arthur had made a full recovery after being in a day long comatose state; and almost every citizen in Camelot had celebrated the princes well being, not noticing that his clumsy oaf of a manservant was missing. The very few people that did notice, were told a cover up story that Merlin's mum had fallen ill, and she requested her son's help to live the rest if her life.

That was a lie.

In the past couple of days, there had been a poison that was inserted into the cities water supply, causing the drinker to fall into a deep, painful coma before dying a horrendous death. At least half of Camelot's population had fallen victim to the curse, and already people had started to drop dead. One of the worst drawbacks to solving the water problem was... Well... Ever since that the blasted dragon had attacked Camelot; the city had been officially low on reserve water. There was only enough for the royals, and that would only last a couple of days.

So, once again Camelot was on the brink of destruction.

Arthur Pendragon really despised that dragon.

So there the almost-dead prince stood, listening to another one o f his father's lectures about 'how bad magic was' and that 'every magic user should be put to death immediately'. Strange, that the king actually saved one of those evil magic users himself. Merlin.

Much too popular belief, Arthur didn't agree with his father about magic. A wise person once told him that 'magic is like a tool, in the right hands it can help people in many ways; but in the wrong hands it can be fatal'. Strangely that person that told him that was his idiotic fool of a manservant Merlin.

Arthur had tried to tell his father that, but he would never listen, the king's judgement of magic would never waver, no matter how strong the defence against it was. Sometimes Arthur thought, his father was like a stubborn thunder cloud. They were both grumpy, and both would never let different opinions cloud their judgement.

Ignoring his father even more, Arthur thought about his ex-manservant Merlin. Despite what several people would say, Arthur wasn't stupid. He had always known that his friend was something else than he seemed, behind the grinning mask that he wore; Arthur had seen a few times a person that had to hide a very powerful secret. And yes, he did call the idiot his friend; as he didn't feel betrayed like he first thought he would when he heard the truth from the king.

Arthur always knew that he was different from everyone else, as the idiot always had a certain gleam in his eyes that spelt that he was up to no good. But, really how could one meekly peasant survive many things that trained knights couldn't? How could Merlin, who had practically no training whatsoever, survive a dragon attack with no injuries; when fifteen knights perished, and when the prince himself was knocked unconscious.

And what person that had an active mind (Arthur always doubted the fact that Merlin had a brain...) would follow the prince that attracted trouble like a very strong magnet willingly? Questions that had been floating around the prince's skull had been answered instantly, but one remained. How on earth did 'Emrys' keep his secret fro so long? The idiot was rubbish at keeping secrets. Arthur remembered a time when-

"Arthur, are you listening?" His father's voice masked, pulling the prince out of his deep thoughts. Noticing every eye in the room staring at him Arthur came up with the quickest, feeblest excuse that he could imagine in under one full second.

"Sorry father, the poison that was in my body must have turned my level of concentration down. Can you repeat the statement?" Arthur said, and he instant the words came out; the prince wished that he could of used a different excuse.

Looking doubtful, the king nodded. "As I have just said, the only way that we can reverse the curse that has been put on my kingdom is magic" Uther paused, looking regretful at his son because of the statement that he was about to announce; "there is only one option that can be followed. Arthur must voyage out of the kingdom and persuade the sorcerer to come and help the city recover. Any questions? Yes Sir Leon".

Leon, the only knight that was able to survive the dragon half a year ago spoke. "Sire, why this one magic user? Why not different one that remains in Camelot and what is 'his' name?"

"Leon, the magic that has been preformed against my kingdom is so strong that ten normal wizards wouldn't be able to lift the curse. Your second question, how many other sorcerers do you think will be willing to help Camelot? None, and yes I have met him myself. His name" Uther stopped, as he took a swing of precious uncontaminated water, "his name is Emrys."

Arthur felt as if somebody had grabbed a sword and sliced through his chest. His eyes quickly scanned the room looking for the city's physician but not seeing him in the room. He couldn't believe his bad luck, he had to find his idiot of a manservant who could be hiding anywhere around the world, bring him back to the kingdom, make him restore Camelot then dismiss him in a period of one week! It would be impossible, almost like finding a needle in a world size haystack.

Weakly nodding his head in agreement, and after watching as his father dismissed the shocked court with only a wave of the hand, Arthur quickly walked out of the throne room; and headed the direction of the physician's quarters. His aim was to speak with the only person that could know where Merlin was.

Gaius.

Resisting the urge to repeatedly bang his head against a wall for his bad luck, Arthur could only hear three words that both summed up the situation completely, and was a mantra that Arthur agreed with completely.

Only in Camelot.

**Finished chapter at last :D It took me forever to finish this chapter, so sorry for the wait. Any chance at a review?**


End file.
